Baked Brown Rice

It's no big secret that I am slightly obsessed with America's Test Kitchen. Every month or so I pick up a different ATK book from the library, and almost every cookbook they have released has this amazing brown rice recipe. It was a dream come true because I love brown rice. It has the nuttiness and heartiness that plain white rice lacks, but it seemed the brown rice NEVER turned out correctly. I tried the rice cooker, stove top, and boiling, but it always seemed to fail me, until I came across this recipe. I give you my word that it will turn out every time.

Yes, you may notice that brown rice is not a veggie-based recipe, nor does it have any veggies in it. I have a recipe coming up on Friday that needs this recipe, so go ahead and bake your rice and have it prepped for the recipe coming Friday!


Before you start prepping, preheat the oven to 375.

Boil 2 1/3 Cups of water with 2 teaspoons butter or oil. I always do it in the microwave for 4 minutes, but you could also do it in a pan over the stove. Be careful to take it out once it starts boiling so you don't lose any of the water to evaporation.

While the water is boiling, spray an 8x8 baking dish or a small casserole dish (around 1.5 qt) with non-stick spray and add 1 1/2 cups brown rice. I used long grain brown rice, but you could also use also use brown basmati rice, just not minute rice.

Once the water is boiling, quickly add in the salt and pour into the dish with the rice. Thwack the dish on the counter or with your hands a few times to make sure all the rice settles evenly.

Tightly cover with heavy duty aluminum foil. My casserole dish comes with a lid, so when I use the casserole dish I use a normal piece of foil and use the lid. You just want to make sure steam doesn't escape.

Put in the oven and let cook for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and give it a nice fluff with a fork.

Cover tightly with a tea towel or a few paper towels, which will absorb any excess water. If you just cover it with a lid the steam rises, gets trapped on the lid and then falls back onto the rice, making it wet and not too appetizing. So make sure to use a tea towel!

Let it sit for 10 minutes, and enjoy.

Perfect Brown Rice
Recipe by America's Test Kitchen

1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 1/3 cups water
2 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Bring 2 1/3 cups water to boil with 2 teaspoon butter or oil (you can do this in the microwave or stovetop). While the water is boiling, spray an 8x8 or 1.5 quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and add the rice. Once the water is boiling, remove from heat immediately and add the salt. Pour water/butter/salt mixture to the rice and cover immediately with heavy duty foil. Place in oven and let cook for 50 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and give it a nice fluff with a fork. Cover tightly with a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes. This is a vital step, so don't skip it! Remove tea towel and serve!